History

In
1626, after Spain occupied
northern Taiwan, Spanish missionaries
arrived at Tek-khàm (竹塹; sm: zhúqiàn), where the TaokasTaiwanese aborigines lived.During the
Qing
Dynasty, it was renamed Hsinchu. In the 21st year of
Guangxu's Regime, Hsinchu Sub Office was
established, responsible for independent administration on June 24.
In June of the 24th Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it altered its
local official system again. Hsinchu County was abolished. It was
then under the administration of Hsinchu Administration Office,
Taipei County. On November 11, 27th
Year of Kuang Hsu's Regime, it established the Hsinchu Office. In
1920, under Japanese
rule, Hsinchu Street was established, with the founding of
Hsinchu Street District Office. In 1930, the city system was
applied. It was renamed as Hsinchu City, under the governing of
Hsinchu-Chou, with the establishment of Hsinchu City Office. In
1941, its administration district was expanded, merging with
Xiangshan and Qiu Kang, and became a part of Liu Jia Zhuang.

In 1945 the incoming Kuomintang (KMT;
Chinese Nationalists) established the Hsinchu City Government to
govern Hsinchu-Chou. In 1946, the Take Over
Committee dissolved and Hsinchu County Government was formed.
Hsinchu County Government was moved to Taoyuan. As the administrative districts were
readjusted, it became a Provincially governed city, using the
original Chou office as its legal office, with seven district
offices. In February of the same year, representative congress was
formed in every district. On April 15 the City Congress was formed.
Provincial Representatives were elected from the city legislators,
to become legislative bodies of different levels. On August 16,
1950, the administrative districts in Taiwan were re-adjusted once
more, demarcating 16 counties and 5 provincially governed
cities.

In June
1982, under the President's order, the Xiangshan Township of
Hsinchu
County would merge into Hsinchu City, and the new entity
would become a special munisipality. The new government of
Hsinchu was legally established on July 1, 1982, with 103 lis, and
1635 lins. The City Government is located on 120 Chung Cheng Road,
the former Hsinchu-Chou Office.

In end of June 1983, there were three Bureaus (Civil Service,
Public Works, and Education), four Departments (Finance, Social
Welfare, Compulsory Military Service, and Land Affairs), four
offices (Secretary, Planning, Personnel, and Auditing), and 49
sections (units, teams) under the City Government's organization to
provide services for various urban affairs. Affiliate institutions
include the Police Department, Tax Department, and Medicine and
Hygiene Department.

By the end of 1982, the city was classified into east, north and
Xiangshan districts. The east, north and Xiangshan district
administration offices were posted on October 1 and then they were
formally established on November 1 in the same year.

From 1994 to 1999, as Taiwan made its transition from authoritarian
rule to modern democracy and the mostly
pro formaprovincial level of
government began to be dissolved, regulations were established
for formal Hsinchu City self-government. A deputy mayor, consumer
officer, and three consultants were added to the city government.
In 2002 the city added a Bureau of Labor and transferred the
business of the Compulsory Military Service to the Department of
Civil Service.

The purpose of the park is to attract high tech investment to
Taiwan and to make the area the economic center for the information
industry. The park is designed to cater for high quality R&D,
production, work, life and also recreation. From its establishment
in 1978, the government has invested over NT$30 billion on software
and hardware ventures. In 2001, it developed 2.5km2 of land in the
Park and 0.5km2 in southern Hsinchu, attracting 312 high-tech
companies' investments. Viewing the performance of Hsinchu Science
and Industrial Park in the past 21 years, it can be said that it
holds a decisive position in the economic development in Taiwan,
with international acclaim.

Although the semi-conductor and related electronic businesses have
been doing well, they face fierce competition from Japan, Korea,
the United States and Singapore. This has resulted in lower profits
and over-supply of some electronic products such as memory and
semi-conductors. Therefore manufacturers, government, academia, and
the R&D sectors all recognize the challenges faced by Taiwan's
high-tech development. The government has endeavored to upgrade
Hsinchu Science Park into a global manufacturing and R&D center
of high-end products. They also plan to intensify the cooperation
among the manufacturing, academic, and research sectors by
introducing incubation centers, in order to elevate the
technological standard in the park. Further, through the
development of the northern, central, and southern industrial park
and its satellite sites, it hopes to sow the seeds of high tech
business in all of Taiwan, leading to a vigorous era of high tech
development.

Education

National Hsinchu University of
Education

National Tsing Hua University

National Chiao Tung University

International and American Schools (grade school and secondary
school)

Climate

Hsinchu's climate is marine tropical. The city is located in a part of
the island that has a rainy season that lasts from February to
September, with the heaviest time coming late April through August
during the southwest monsoon, and also
experiences meiyu in May and early
June. The city succumbs to hot humid weather from June until
September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant
times of year. Hsinchu is affected by easterly winds off of the
China Sea. Natural hazards such as
typhoons and earthquakes are common in the region.